Ecclesiastes 1:3-11 says,...

Today's verses are Ecclesiastes 1:3-11, which read,

v.3 - What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun?

We start off this conversation with a question.  The word "advantage" or "gain" will be used many times by Solomon in this book.  The phrase "under the sun" will also be mentioned over 30 times.  This is a summary question of what Solomon is going to talk about.  Is there any advantage or gain to what we do on a daily basis and this question is a universal question for all of humanity. 

v.4-7 - A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.  Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; and hastening to it place it rises there again.  Blowing  toward the south, then turning to the north, the wind continues swirling along; and on it's circular courses the wind returns.  All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is not full.  To the place where the rivers flow, they they flow again.

Solomon brings up the passing of one generation to another with the backdrop of our earth that has been here through it all.  The sun, the wind, the rivers continue doing what they have always been doing while we come and go.  Are we not more valuable than the earth, sun, wind, and rivers and yet our lives are very short in compared to the these objects that don't have a soul and some type of eternal destiny.  

The earth receives us when we pass away.  The sun rises and falls even if we can not see it because of cloud cover.  The wind blows where it wishes and we have no control over what it brings.  The rivers are a part of a cycle of evaporation.  The rivers are flowing waters into the sea that evaporates into the air to gather in the clouds to be dropped again on earth and soaked into the ground to be apart of an underground system that comes to the surface to flow as rivers again and into the sea.  All of these examples from the elements around us show their permanence against our very temporal lives.  So what matter is there to what we do the short time we are here?  

v.8-11 - All things are wearisome; man is not able to tell it.  The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear filled with hearing.  That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done.  So there is nothing new under the sun.  Is there anything of which one might say, "See this, it is new"?  Already it has existed for ages which were before us.  There is no remembrance of earlier things; and also of the later things which will occur, there will be for them no remembrance among those who will come later still.

We will come across some very popular sayings in the book like "there is nothing new under the sun."  Solomon conveys the message that things might be new to us as we experience them for the first time but they have been around and will be around after you have gone.  Actually the remembrance of you might be the thing that is forgotten and not experienced because you are not like the sun rising and falling each day, the wind blowing, and the rivers flowing.  We can keep the memory of ones who have passed alive but after a few generations that connection to that individual is regulated to a name listed on the family tree at best or a rare trip to the graveyard to look at the tombstone.

This sounds very depressing and I think that is what Solomon is going for.  He wants us to see how fleeting our life is and therefore if there is any meaning, advantage or gain then we need to find out what it is so we can pursue after it while we have time.  Next will come that list of his quest to find out what has meaning in this short life that we have.  Is it human wisdom?  Is it human effort?  Is it human achievement?  Those are just the ones addressed in chapter 2.  

I have heard preachers at funerals speak about the "dash" on the tombstone between the birth and death dates of the deceased.  The "dash", that little punctuation mark represents all of their lives.  All that they said.  All that they did.  All that they strived for.  All that they contributed.  The "dash" is short just like our lives on this planet.  What will it represent for a short time to be remembered?  Is there something within the "dash" that could outlast us because it is tied to the One who is eternal?  Could that be more important than our very lives?  Who cares if they remember me as long as they remember and live after the One who came to give us forgiveness of sins and eternal life with Him?  Well, I am getting ahead of myself.  Let us pray.

"Lord, may we see how short our lives are.  May we see the need to know what is truly important for this short span.  May we go on this quest with Solomon to sift through what men have elevated to be essential and find what truly glorifies You.  Amen."

Pastor Adam